War is inevitable. The Thirty Years’ War, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War era transformed the panorama of the world. War is defined as a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups in a country. Since the advent of time, states have been waging wars against one another to gain more territory, power, security, and political and economic gains. In the past, conflicts were resolved with the help of swords and conventional means. In the contemporary world, states have shifted from first-generation warfare to fourth-generation or hybrid warfare using conventional and non-conventional means to menace the enemy.
Nuclear weapon states like India and Pakistan do not confront directly but use indirect means to commit strikes against each other. India has employed hybrid warfare against Pakistan and is exploiting the weaknesses of the state. This article explains the impact of India’s hybrid warfare and its impact on the national security of Pakistan. Hybrid warfare is a strategy used by militaries in the modern era, introduced by Frank Hoffman.
It is an amalgam of political warfare, conventional warfare, irregular warfare and cyber warfare along with other defaming tactics like spreading false news and information, diplomacy and foreign influence. It can be done through state and nonstate actors.
Carl von Clausewitz said that every era has a different type of war, its boundaries, and its distinctive prepossession. Hybrid warfare is the most harmful weapon being used today as it is difficult to trace the true adversary and the target.
Pakistan and India are archenemies since the day of their independence when the sub-continent was divided into two parts. The rivalry is old but the world, methods, and tactics are new. War methods have changed over time and now information, science, and technology are being used to deteriorate the roots of the enemy.
Fourth-generation warfare or hybrid warfare uses physical and non-physical means to impair a state. India has confronted Pakistan many times through conventional means and strikes but it failed to cause any major damage to the security of the state. But now it has created a lethal plot for Pakistan. India has for many years supported terrorism in Pakistan through funding, weapons, spies, and insurgencies. India aimed to prove to the world that Pakistan is a terrorist state.
The insurgencies and terrorism in Balochistan were funded by India through their spy Kulbhushan Yadev who was an ex-Indian Naval officer. He was appointed by the Indian Intelligence Agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and financial and military support was given to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and others to rebel against the government and other organizations of Pakistan. Kulbhushan Yadev was arrested by the Pakistan military in March 2016 and is in jail.
The Indian media uses non-kinetic means to promote anti-Pakistan narrative round the globe and declare Pakistan as a terrorist state. India displayed a huge show of its malicious aims on 26 February 2019 when a military convoy faced a largescale bombing in Pulwama, situated in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan was accused of this attack and India began strikes which were initiated by the Indian Air Force in Balakot, a region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
This led to the commencement of air combat in which India lost two of its aircraft and Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to Pakistan. India being a hostile enemy threatened Pakistan to hit with six missiles and Pakistan adopted a defensive position and gave a statement which clued at the probability of a nuclear war. The global powers and watchdogs interfered in this conflict and resolved the issue. India has also altered the perception of the world about Pakistan using yellow journalism.
The EU Disinfo Lab exposed an operation carried out by India for the past 15 years named Indian Chronicles and the main agenda of this operation is to target the European Union and United Nations to serve Indian motives and in particular to defame Pakistan.
Indian Chronicles operated 750 fake media accounts that spread false narratives in over 119 countries. To discredit Pakistan India is monitoring the proliferation of pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan sentiments not only in its own country but also in states where it has deployed fake media outlets. The states that are not on good terms with India are the main targets of this assassination which aims at destroying their reputation and gaining power for India and improving its perception across the world.
This disinformation campaign led by India used fake domain names, and dead people and stole the identity of many others to promote the anti-Pakistan narrative. This war adversely affected the national security of Pakistan and a huge blowout to its economy as it stood on the grey list of FATF for a long duration, due to this tagging done by India.
Pakistan was blamed for carrying out illegal bank transactions, money laundering, and funding terrorism. India gained immense success in this regard as Pakistan faced a huge economic setback after the FATF regulations. It has political reservations too as it has blotted the image of Pakistan on the regional and international levels which had serious implications on the international relations of Pakistan.
It also has affected Pakistan militarily by initiating border disputes like firing and bombing at lines of control killing innocent civilians and through insurgencies. It has also tarnished the image of Pakistan socially by using fake social media accounts, mass media through yellow journalism and operation Indian Chronicles which propagated the bad image of Pakistan.
In my opinion, Pakistan should counter this hybrid warfare against itself by promoting national cohesion, improving internal politics and relations, eliminating sectarianism, and above all working for the betterment of its economy.
The national security policy emphasizes geo-economic development which elucidates that the state will work for the betterment of its economy and internal issues ensuring the security of individuals and state institutions at the same time.
In a nutshell, India has defamed Pakistan in myriad ways to destabilize its national security which has to be curtailed by taking suitable measures.
